Jennifer8

[ QUOTE ]
Jack sent out a small pulse of pain like he had earlier with Master Wonderful. It was just enough to make all of Em's mussels seize up and make it impossible for her to move. Jack walked up to her and looked her straight in the face.

"Oh dear....Seems like you got your self in a spot of bother. That's very foolish." He said to her with a smile.

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"Actually - " she gasped, "You - might have been foolish - yourself." The pain was making tears course down her cheeks, but she seemed quite sure of what she was saying.

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((OOC: Another VG cats fan I see ))

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OOC: Actually, I have never heard of VG cats. I just liked your avatar, traced where it came from, and picked one of my own. ))

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Still feeling weak from the blast Jack forced himself to stand. He was too weak to use his powers again just yet but on shaky legs he started to walk towards Emily. She would have to be dealt with first.

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Em was concentrating on the remote when the beep from her motion detector went off. Alarmed, she looked around, but saw no one... still, perhaps best to move. She set off down the tunnel.

However, Emily was a normal human - if Jack put his mind to it, she had little chance of escaping him...

When Crystal came to herself, there were words, as if etched in fire, in her minds eye.

[ QUOTE ]
You poor child. Now you teeter on the brink of oblivion. But, you don't have to. I can save you in addition to my other offer. Just say that you will become my servant, 'Avarice,' and I can make it all happen.


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Crystal could not have said what it was that rose up in her at these words. When she rolled over, and spoke, her voice sounded gravelly, but the sound of it gave her strength.

"I... don't... believe you," she mumbled, and the words disappeared. She felt a strange sense of relief. She stayed still for a moment, shaking her head, and then looked around, the world coming into sharper focus. She felt horribly ill.


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Kagete watched the two creatures come at him calmly and silently. He had to time this just right. As the two highly sexual being got to him he did a small jump that caused him to land on the the psudo-demon's shoulders which did a larger jump off of and aimed a flying mule kick at the ghoul. The cannibalistic humanoid reacted almost to late as the ninja landed hard on the floor near the unconscious Crystal. Kagete to a moment to shove her prone form away while proformed a round house kick the ghoul's head.

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When she looked up, the first thing she saw was the face of the ghoul. It had been slammed hard by the kick, but it had kept its feet. Seeing her eyes, it hissed loudly.

Her reaction was instinctive and immediate. She thrust her hands out; power crackled through her body, encasing her in a shimmering field - the first symptom of the changes wrought in her body by the Russian Roulette. The ghoul was not harmed - but it was repelled hard, slammed across the room and into the wall... almost through the wall.

The effort made her double over. Kagete's medicine had saved her life, and helped her to awaken, but she was woefully overdosing. It wasn't as severe as it would have been, but it was severe enough.

In spite of this, she was aware that there was a battle taking place. Rolling over again, she attempted to find her knees: in spite of the devastation of Roulette, she was trying to stand. She was tougher than she looked.

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[ QUOTE ]
Syn had spent almost too long focusing on getting Erik to attack the Lost. He'd been clipped twice by the raging Master Wondful's swings and he was hurting. At least now he could focus on the task at hand. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to get a good shot with his mind blast due to both fighters coninuing to jockey for an advantagious position. He didn't waste his time with killing blows as that would leave him to winded to fight back against Connor's attacks if he were to miss and he needed enough so that he could escape if things got to bad. And so their stalemate continued.


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It wasn't long before Emily found Master Wonderful, who was locked in battle with another superpowered individual - Syn. She had read about him earlier in Conner's files. So far, neither of them seemed able to get an upper hand.

She smirked at her controller. "Time to tip the balance, don't you think?" she said to no one in particular.

She waited until it was obvious that Syn was concentrating for a fresh attack, and then dive-bombed. The tiny, mechanical, ladybug-like drone didn't have much in the way of offensive capabilities... but it could deliver a powerful shock, surprisingly so for its size.

To make sure he got the full effect, she aimed directly for his left eye. He saw her coming at the last second - but it was too late, and the ladybug impacted fully with his face. There was a distinct noise of, ZZZZZT!

Unhurt by the impact, the ladybug bounced off and, after a clumsy moment of spinning in the air, whizzed upwards again, to a piercing cry of "Aaaaagh! My eye!"

The sound of the voice did her good. She just hoped the boss would be able to take advantage of the distraction.

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Jack raised a finger and coursed the pink hero agonizing pain. When he lowered his finger the pain stopped. Jack continued to walk around him in slowly circles while he smiled from ear to ear. "That is only a taste of what I am going to do to you."

Connor sneered, "Bring it on, chuckles."

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Emily dropped down through the manhole with a grunt. The motion detector had been correct: there was nothing moving in any direction. It had taken her a bit of time, more than she had anticipated, to find a manhole cover that was safe for entry.

The stench was as bad as she expected, and she screwed up her face, but jogged on. The waterproof coveralls she wore kept her skin dry. Around her hips was a belt with a number of tools hung on it: on her head, she wore a construction helmet. Digging in her toolkit, she found a bandana, and tied it around her face to try and cut some of the stench before heading down one of the tunnels, watching two gadgets intently. One was the motion tracker - the other looked almost like a game controller of some sort.

She continued down the tunnel until suddenly the screen of the little controller turned green. "Gotcha," she grinned, stopped running at once, and put her thumbs on the controls.

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Elsewhere
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From the shards of plastic and metal which decorated the ground, no one would ever have guessed how carefully the smashed dragonfly unit had been assembled. The pieces had lain unmoving since they had been destroyed by a madman, intent on revenge.

Now, however, one of the pieces moved. It was a curved piece that had once formed a portion of the rounded dragonfly body. It wobbled for a moment, then tipped over.

Underneath it was a tiny, roundish, insectoid-looking thing, which was moving around almost curiously. Its appearance was squat and clumsy.

When it took off a few moments later, however, its flight was graceful, if not as fast as the dragonfly had been, and it zoomed down the tunnel as if it knew exactly what it was looking for.

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Elsewhere
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Emily shook her head with a smile. "Now... lets go find the boss..." She looked at her scanner, showing the tracking device she had secretly placed on Master Wonderful earlier, and sent the tiny unit flying in his direction.

[ QUOTE ]
Magni and Modi were visibly happy to see their Mama come out of the room. She looked very upset, like when one of them began chewing on the carpet, but they were happy to see her anyway.

They rushed to her and gave her non-stop attention.

Modi however, kept on going back to the door. He could smell Papa, and KNEW he went into that room. He whined a bit and looked at Mama...

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Enid went to the door, opened it... and the room beyond was empty. No, almost empty, there was something in the middle of the floor. She entered the room and knelt by it... it was a shoe. Erik's shoe. But of Erik himself, there was no sign.

Enid thinned her lips.

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Elsewhere
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This place was much smaller than the automated base that Master Wonderful had visited earlier. It was still crawling with Anomolous: but far fewer, and much smaller. This, for the moment, was the lab of one Dr. Syn, who found himself in the unpleasant situation of having to tolerate these houseguests, until such time as his deal with the devil could be completed, and he could free himself of them.

The Anomolous swarmed interestedly around the heroes that had been delivered to the lab. They had taken a gamble by permitting the fledgling humans to leave so easily: now, however, it looked like the gamble was paying off.

The first fledgling, a male, was seriously injured, with extensive brain damage, as well as deterioration of tissues consistant with nanite poisoning.

There was some discussion that took place regarding this human, though none of it could be heard audibly. Unlike the Vahzilok, the Lost had no use for corpses.

Finally one of the Anomolous took Paul's limp form and carried it across the room. It stripped the human of the cloth it was entangled in, then placed him in a tube - not the tube he had been in earlier, but a new tube. Lights played and swarmed around his body, spinning and twirling.

On the screen next to the tube, flashing numbers and symbols appeared. The Anomolous studied these for some time, then nodded at the tube. No manual pressing of buttons was necessary.

At once, the tube began to fill with a strange, pinkish liquid. It didn't take long for it to reach the chest of the fledgling, crumpled in a half-kneeling position in the bottom of the tube: he would have been prone had the narrow confines of the cylinder permitted it.

The liquid rose, and the human rose with it, floating, the liquid supporting his body. He rose up almost a yard, his feet no longer touching the floor, before the liquid had filled the tube to the top.

After a moment, the human convulsed, coughing and struggling even in his sleep. Air escaped his mouth. The Anomolous watched calmly. If the substance in the tube had been water, the fledgling would simply have drowned. As it was, after a few minutes of struggle, the human settled down, breathing the liquid as if it had been air.

The Anomolous watched for a minute. After a few seconds, the life signs of the fledgling human, which had been dangerously low, began to stabilize. The human had been severely damaged, and would take time to repair. However, it should prove to be a suitable specimen for later experimentation, once its body was repaired, and once any traces of nanite infection had been removed. The tube was sealed, and set on a timer before the Anomolous walked away.

Across the lab, another Anomolous investigated another of the four humans sent to them by Syn. This one was also a fledgling, but a female. There was little discussion about this one; it had been placed in the preparation tubes earlier, and was ready to begin the journey to become one of them. The entangling cloth was stripped off and discarded.

This human was in far better shape than the other one had been. It was re-injected with the preparatory drug before being placed in a seperate tube of its own. The Anomolous began the preliminary transformation processes with a nod of its head. Unearthly, strange bluish lights began running over the form of the fledgling human. Once the process had been started, the Anomolous turned away. It would take some days for the transformation to complete. It opened a tube three tubes down from the new human, revealing a new Anomolous, who walked out of the tube and joined the ranks at once.

A third human, another captive of Syn's, was surrounded by a ring of Anomolous. This human was emitting steady levels of radiation, which they found disturbing. Finally one of the Anomolous took the human to a machine across the room from the others. The cloth with which the human had entangled itself was removed, but was not piled with the others: rather it was thrown into a small metal box and disintigrated to ash within seconds. The human was taken to a tube which was clear all the way around, instead of the standard windows. A breathing apparatus was fitted to its mouth and nose, and then it was unceremoniously dropped in. The tube filled with a strange greenish liquid, murky and dark, so that the form of the human could hardly be seen: here it was left, unconscious.

The final human was surrounded by even more Anomolous than the third had been. This human was encased, not in fabric as most humans were, but in a very advanced nanite-based battle suit. The nanites were born of a technology superior to the Rikti's, and resisted all attempts to remove them. Finally the human was placed horizontally in a darkened tube, heavily reinforced with metal, which closed with a CLANG. It displayed no lights, and no data came across the nearby screens yet. It would take time to analyze the technology.... but the Anomolous had time, after all.

The final thing sent by Syn was not a human at all, but a highly radioactive object, encased in lead. This was carried, unopened, over to a tube next to the contaminated human's, dropped in the bottom, and the tube was filled with the same dark, greenish, murky liquid.

Satisfied with their accomplishments, the Anomolous went their way. Their bargain with Syn was working out well. There was more to be done, but they were in no hurry.....

[ QUOTE ]
Harris took one of Amy's arms across his shoulders to help her walk. Harris attention had been so focused on Amy that he had not even noticed Sarah...until now.

"Sarah? What are you doing here?" He asked.

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Sarah pursed her lips, and, for the first time since he had known her, considered her answer. If he had been alone, she would have simply lied to him. It wasn't like she hadn't done it before: she often found herself doing things that were perfectly necessary to do her job - the same things that her short-tempered, abusive, hair-trigger boss would not hesitate to fire her for. He certainly never hesitated to write her up or dock her.

But looking at Enid, she couldn't bring herself to lie. "Aw, what the hell," she said, "it was a crappy job anyway. I was going to tip off Enid Sanstad." She shrugged. "I got there a little late, found this big story heading down the road in an unmarked van, followed it, and here I am." She paused. "Roberts is down here somewhere also, by the way."

She slung her shotgun over her shoulder and hefted the pack they had put together with supplies and extra ammunition in it. She didn't have to ask to know that she was fired: she had spent years delicately and skillfully avoiding tipping Harris off to her activities, for years. Now the game was up, and she figured she would just start a new one, somewhere else... if they got out of here, of course.

[ QUOTE ]
Her words made him feel strong and brave again.

"Yes. This is all my fault, I'm sorry. I will do everything I can." He said with more confidence.

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Sarah and Enid looked at each other while Harris back was turned. Sarah lifted her little finger - signifying the little finger that Amy had wrapped Harris around. Enid smirked before becoming serious again. "I will take point, Amy and Harris in the middle, Sarah - you are bringing up the rear."

Sarah had some weaponry herself and nodded professionally. "You got it... let's go."

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"Thanks god. I thought I would never see you again. The doctors said you would never weak up. I did everything I could. Then you were kidnapped. I thought I had lost you. Oh Amy. Thanks god yu're safe." He was speaking fast and shaking, trying to explain everything.

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Amy stroked his back. "Hey, it's OK.... ssshhhhh," she soothed. She was so terribly delicate, birdlike, so fragile that it seemed she could be easily snapped in half, like a twig... and yet the life radiated from her. Exactly as he remembered. When they eventually parted, she brushed his hair from his eyes, as she used to long ago. "You've changed," she said, studying his face. "You've forgotten a lot, I think." Her hand stroked his hair. "Forgotten the good things that you used to love...?"

As usual, in Amy's face there was no hint of condemnation or despair. She knew nothing except how to love, and that had not changed. "When we get out of here... I will help you remember the things that you have forgotten." She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. "For now though... well it's time to find our missing members. None of us - not Sarah, not Enid, and certainly not myself - are going to leave without them. Think you can help us find them?" She smiled at him, the old, 'You are my hero' smile that he hadn't seen in six years, the one to make an old man feel young again, and to make a sad man dance.

[ QUOTE ]
"H-he came down here on one of those over grown carpets....sorry....bear…..things. It’s right out side with the other. He must have come in here.......I think" Harris babbled.

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"He did. We saw him. Now we cannot find him." Enid's voice and face conveyed her displeasure at this turn of events. "However..." she raised the shotgun to point at the ceiling. "We did find someone that you should meet." She looked back over her shoulder. "Clear!" she called.

In a moment, from around the corner, came Sarah... and his wife.

Amy had her hand around Sarah's shoulders, and it was clear that Sarah was supporting most of her weight. After so long in a coma, Amy could hardly move. But she saw him and smiled - the exact smile he remembered... how long had it been since he had seen it?

"Hiya, partner," Amy said, and though her voice was hoarse from disuse, it was just as he remembered it. Could he really have forgotten her 'pet' name for him? "I was wondering how long it would be before you showed up." Her face was softly lit. "I'm glad to see you."

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Harris had locked his arms around the bear’s neck for fear of falling off. Once they final stopped he got off with his legs shaking. The creature had brought him to a door. As Harris approached it he heard a slowly clicking sound. He looked around trying to hear were it was coming from. He realized it was coming from himself. After some searching he found a small screen on the back of the suits glove. The clicking seemed to becoming from a small speaker next to it.

He held his hand out to the door and the clicking seemed to get just a little bit quicker. It was then that he realized it was a Giga Counter. The screen read, “Radiation levels safe.”

It took some effort but Harris pushed open the door. Nervously he poked his head in side and rather stupidly shouted, “Hello?”

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The shotgun blast came from his side, shockingly loud. Behind him, there was a moan as a lone abomination slid to the floor - the last of a group that had been cut down.

Enid Sanstad had discarded the heavy radiation suit. She had double bandoliers of ammunition on, and weapons galore - there had been a stockpile nearby. Sarah and Amy Harris were nowhere in sight at that moment. "Mr. Harris," she said coldly. It was amazing how the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. "I understand you are responsible for putting myself and my family in danger. We need to have a long talk, but now is not the time or the place. Now, we only need to talk about one thing: Where is my husband? "

((OOC: I swear, I swear, Amy is coming in like the next post, but I needed to do the encounter with Enid first.))

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Martin leaned against the wall, "May God help him, because we can't."

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Emily stared at him. "The hell we can't," she responded, put her gear down, and strode out of the room without another word.

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Can I call it or what?

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A-yup!

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[ QUOTE ]
"NNNOOOOOOO!" He roared as he jumped up and ran to push Crystal out of the way, hoping he got there in time. Everything seemed to stay in slow-mo until the last second when everything snapped back.


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The blast took Crystal square in the chest. Unlike in the vision that Syn had provided, it did not pierce her from one side to the other. Rather, she seemed luminous, lit from within, as if she had been a lantern, her form transluscent as she was picked up off her feet.

Her body collided with Jack's as gently and softly as if she had been a pillow in a pillow fight, as if it had neither malice nor momentum; and yet the both of them were knocked down the hallway and into the wall.

Crystal did not move or attempt to pick herself up. Her face perfect under its smudges, her lips slightly open, as if she was merely asleep. The illusion would have been complete if only her chest would have risen and fallen, instead of such utter stillness....

((OOC OK, I admit it: I sucuumbed to temptation there. MUA ha ha ha! I figure the offer will change to one of these on-the-brink-of-death sorts of things instead.))

[ QUOTE ]
"Target not destroyed. Initiating second attack."

Paul beat against the walls of his private dark room. "GET AWAY! EVERYONE GET THE HELL AWAY!"

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The battle in Paul's mind seemed to stop for Crystal as well. Then the same voice called out to Crystal.

My dear, child, said the voice in a loving tone, you never asked for any of this. But you are willing to accept the resposibilities that come with it none the less. You wish to save both the men you love from each of their horrible fates. It is because of this that you are so loved, and it is this that drew my attention to you. I can help you save them both. You must just swear your loyalty and the use of your powers to me.


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Crystal heard the voice - but she was in too much distress to fully listen to it. The sight of her lover fighting with her adopted brother was too horrifying. "NOOOOOOO!"

With one fluid motion, she was off the bear, down the hallway, interposing her body between Jack and Paul, her hands bearing no weapons, her arms flung wide, the bolt, already fired, heading directly for her chest. This is when the action all stopped, and the voice filled her mind...

((OOC too late tonight to post a full response, will post more in the morning if I can ))

[ QUOTE ]
~It is a slight muscle tear master. Continue to fight us and it will be much worse.~

"You're supposed to PROTECT me!"

~And we are, but we also have come to the conclusion that you do not wish to protect yourself. therefore we must take control by any means and make you safe so we BOTH may ensure survival.~

"DAMNITT! YOU'RE BACK TO CREEPY SCI-FI AGAIN!"

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Jack knew Crystal would not leave with out Paul. As much as he loathed it the only way to make sure Crystal was safe was to help Paul. Jack scanned the area and spotted Paul. He was acting very strange; he seemed to be struggling with something on the spot. Jack ran over to him.

"Paul you ja**[censored] we have to get out of here." He shouted as he grabbed Paul by the arm. He was still unaware of the nanits. With the noise of the battle he had only picked up the fake Paul voice. "Stop [Censored] about."

Jack pushed one of the med patches he had got from Macbeth in to Paul’s hands.

"Come on. Move it you [Censored]." Jack shouted.

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Crystal grasped Magni's fur and climbed onto his back, trusting him to protect her while she concentrated.

In Paul's mind, next to the metallic Crystal, the real Crystal formed. Her form was glowing, angelic, and furious. "Leave Paul alone!" She shrieked, and flew at Many as One.

Quarter was neither asked nor given. Her hair gleamed and her eyes glowed. "Get away from him!" she screamed. "You leave Paul alone! OVER MY DEAD BODY will you hurt Paul!" Her hands were full of fire and she flung it at Many as One. "Get out! So help me GOD, I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU TOUCH HIM! "

Crystal meant what she was saying absolutely. She was not going to let Many as One harm Paul.

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Edit
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(OOC: sorry, work has been very busy lately, meant to get this post up earlier)

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“Penny! Are you all-right? Where is everyone? Where is Enid?!?”

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"I'm exhausted, starving, and mad enough to chew nickels and spit nails," she returned. "Other than that, I am fine. More importantly, Enid and Amy are fine and safe. Once we have Frankenstein here secured, I will tell you where they are."

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“Penny! Secure the core!” Erik shouted as he forced wave after wave of energy onto Viktor. “This won’t work for long! We need to secure the core!”

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"Secure the core, got it," Penny shot back.

The core was now glowing brilliantly green.

Across her heads-up display rolled letters, blinking and insistant.

***WARNING*** Nanite shield breach imminent, T minues 2 minutes and counting. ***WARNING*** ***WARNING*** ***WARNING***

"We're taking out the core," Penny said in a low voice, too low to be heard by Erik and Vahzilok. "How long with the shielding hold?"

Estimated time to structural integrity breach under radiation level present at central core: 45 seconds. ***Warning*** Nuclear core will take 2 minutes 17 seconds to dismantle. ***Warning*** ***Warning*** ***Warning***

She swore under her breath. "How long can you continue to heal me once the shielding is breached?"

Estimated time to power reserve depletion in given hypothetical: 60 seconds.

"It will have to do," Penny sighed - and plunged in.

She could tell the difference immediately. It was like walking into an oven... but she knew what to do. She started working as fast as she could, uncoupling housings, untwisting wires.

One of the housings was stuck - fused by the intense radiation. ***WARNING** Nanite shield breach imminent, complained the Omega Unit.

She knew when the shielding faded. It was as if her arms had been dipped in fire. She screamed, but continued to try and work with shaking hands.

Commencing cellular regeneration and repair sequences.

It was this last housing that was keeping the core in place: Penny pulled at it desperately. Then, quite suddenly, it came free.

For a moment she had a star in her hands, an emerald green star. Everything else in the room dimmed when she removed the core from its housing. Vahzilok screamed and lunged for her when he saw what was happening, but she was not aware of it. In spite of the pain, in spite of the armor which was now melting off of her arms, in spite of all of this - it was a moment of wonder. A moment to admire the marvel of creation and to ponder the idea of the presence of God, of His signature stretched across all of creation.

Then she dropped it, and hoped from the sudden dimness in the room that the core had gone where it was supposed to, in the shielded container: no, she could see it had. There it was. Was it normal for it to be so dark inside of it? No, perhaps the darkness was at the edges of her vision - yes, it was. The container was receding away into a tunnel.

Her job was not finished. Her arms - now quite visible, large patches of them black as soot - seemed to stretch for miles and miles. Yet somehow the lid clunked into place.

"Clear," she heard a voice say. This, she knew, was what one said after one had dismantled a bomb. Had she dismantled a bomb? She couldn't recall.

Suddenly there were hands there - enormous hands, stitched out of many pieces. The voice that spoke was not hers. "What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

It didn't seem to have any relevance to her. "Status indefinite ... damage report undetermined pending analysis," she muttered, and then gray mists seemed to swirl in front of her eyes, and she knew nothing else.

[ QUOTE ]
All the while Erik seethed with anger and worry. All of his hatred, all of his spite, all of his rage was no focused on one man.

"I AM COMMING FOR YOU DOCTOR VAHZLIOK!" His voice sounded like a death knell ringing in the tunnels. Modi roared with his master and charged harder, trampling anything in their way.


[/ QUOTE ]

"I see you found my little project," growled Dr. Vahzilok. "I have come to far in my plans to allow you to interfere now, Girl Genius."

"Little late for that," Penny, after some fiddling, managed to get the lid to the core undone - and the room flooded with a brilliant green light. She shielded her eyes briefly.

Radiation spike detected. Approximate time to nanite-shielding penetration: 5 minutes. Penny frowned at the counting clock that appeared on a corner of her heads-up display, but knew not to say anything in front of Vahzilok.

"You're too late - you cannot remove the core! " He paused. "And what have you done with Enid Sanstad?"

Penny, gritting her teeth, reached her hands into the green blaze of light. "You didn't seriously think - uh - that I was going to leave her with you! She's somewhere quite safe, thank you."

"Until my men find her," Vahzilok growled. "She is essential to my plans." He was moving towards the door.

"Why?" Penny said, almost absently, as she worked - and then she stopped, turning towards Dr. Vahzilok. "You don't need her for anything that Enid can do - you need her because Erik loves her... don't you?"

"That's none of your concern," growled Vahzilok, now standing on the other side of the door.

"But it is my concern," Penny responded. "I wondered why you stole this quantity of nuclear material, it's not enough to really power anything... you could make a nuke out of it... but that is not what you wanted is it?" It was easy to envision her narrowing her eyes by the set of her helmet.

Vahzilok looked surprised. "You cannot possibly understand the purpose of this place."

Penny looked around. "I could take a guess," she said at length. "I'm guessing that you want an explosion, but you want a specific sort of explosion that nuclear material by itself can't produce... some sort of shaped charge that will take out a very small, specific segment of the city while leaving most of the rest of it undamaged."

There was a CLINK noise from within the core. She removed one hand, shaking it, then put it back in. "So... what is your plan? Get Erik down here, do something horrible to Enid, watch him blow himself up? Have him do it around this area so that your little nuclear core here interacts with his blast, and makes sure the combined explosions have enough force to do what you want them to do?" Another CLINK, and she shook her head again, this time removing the other hand, shaking it, and putting it back in. "What I don't understand is... why do you want an explosion? It's not exactly your style. Unless... there wouldn't be a Rikti facility down here somewhere, by any chance?"

"Very perceptive," Vahzilok looked suprised in spite of himself. "If you had been of a more enlightened frame of mind, I might have trained you as one of my own. As it is, you are going to tell me exactly where you have hidden Enid Sanstad. I assure you that your earlier... session... was nothing compared to what I will do to you." He almost sounded like a reasonable man, or might have, if he had not been wearing an enormous battle suit stitched together from piecemeal bodies. "Cooperate with me, and I will kill you quickly and rather painlessly. If you continue to try and hide Enid Sanstad, your death will take a very long time indeed."

"Enid Sanstad is beyond your reach now," Penny said. "And even if I knew where she was, I wouldn't tell you. Erik made a promise to me: and I have made one to him, even though he doesn't know it." She paused. "I am going to get his wife out of here, Dr. Vahzilok. I am going to bring Enid back to him. And no force on God's green Earth is going to stop me."

"Want to make a bet?" Vahzilok growled.

Girl Genius turned her head - his hand was on the handle to the core. "You can't open that door!" she said, with shock clear in her voice. "The core is unshielded, you will flood the entire compartment - "

Dr. Vahzilok smiled - and turned the handle. The door opened.

All of the forces that he had brought with him screamed, in horrible, dying shrieks. Most of them burst into green flames, running wildly but very briefly, then collapsing to the floor.

Penny's heart was pounding somewhere in the region of her throat, and she tried to swallow it. "-and everything in that room will die," her voice was horrified as she removed her hands from the core. Her voice went hard. "Something I imagined that you would care about... but of course you could just make more. And if that suit you are wearing has sufficient regenerative capabilities..."

Dr. Vahzilok stooped to get through the doorway, and stepped into the room. The suit was smouldering but didn't seem to be taking significant damage. He didn't look at all bothered by the green radiation.

"... than I am in more trouble than I had originally anticipated," Penny backed off a step.

Vahzilok grinned. "As I believe you are fond of saying... that is a remarkably astute analysis."

Penny ran just as an enormous fist slammed into the ground behind her, missing her by inches.

[ QUOTE ]
"What will we do then?" Someone asked.

"I imagine," Enid grinned, "That we will be giving Dr. Vahzilok an enormous surprise...."

[/ QUOTE ]

"That's it," Penny said, looking through the glass, "The core." It was an evil looking thing, glowing green, surrounded by humming, lit pillars. "We need to remove the material from the core, make sure this place cannot blow... or at least if it does blow, it doesn't take out King's row."

"Is it likely that it would blow up?" Amy sounded alarmed.

It was Enid that responded. "If it is properly balanced, it shouldn't. Of course..." She gave a significant look at Penny.

Penny shrugged. "Vahzilok is an MD, not a nuclear physicist. If he's got his math wrong..." She left the sentence unfinished.

"Oh," said Amy in a small voice.

"All right, if he is following standard operating procedures - and he should be if he has stolen the plans for this reactor like I think he has - there should be a container somewhere to hold the nuclear material in case of emergency, a leaded container, it might be pretty big, if it was stolen it should be clearly marked... somehow I don't think the good Doctor is making any of this stuff himself."

They fanned out, and after a moment, Adam called, "Over here!"

They came and, sure enough, there was a large, cement-and-lead container, shaped like a tube, with a heavy, multiple lid. "That's it... good work, Adam."

"Can you even pick that up?" said Sarah.

"I can't... luckily the suit is stronger than I am." With some effort, she picked up the cylinder.

"You want us to stay in the secondary observation pod?"

"Yes, please, Enid," she responded.

"Secondary observation pod?" asked Sarah.

"Yes... Dr. Vahzilok has followed a specific published blueprint to make this place. We will be safe from any radiation in the observation pods, and we wouldn't be visible from the control room.... Girl Genius is trying to keep us out of sight in a safe place."

"bar the door from the inside," said Girl Genius. "I will be back out as quick as I can."

"All right.... good luck."

"Thanks," Penny smiled, and lugged the container to the door.

She waited until Amy, Enid, and Adam were safe before dismantling the lock and opening the door.

At once, sirens blared, and warning lights flashed. This was not unexpected: they had all known perfectly well that there would be no way they would sneak the nuclear material out without anyone noticing.

Penny closed the door behind her, glancing at the window to the control room, where she could see dim forms scurrying around, then lugged the container next to the large cylinder which formed the nuclear core.

Behind her were a series of control rods. The controls to them said, "LOCKED" and they would not move. She sighed and got to work on the controls; after a few minutes, she touched two wires together, gritting her teeth at the charge that went through the suit.

Slowly the rods lowered into their housings. The green glow eminating from the core tube became far dimmer. The container could now be opened with proper shielding, and without risk of a runaway reaction.

She turned to the cylinder - and heard a voice through the speakers installed into the room. "Well, well, well, look who it is... it seems that you are a greater threat than I imagined."

Penny looked up. The window was full of faces, as people had crowded around it. She recognized one of them, though she had never seen it before. "I'm surprised to see you... Dr. Victor Vahzilok."

[ QUOTE ]
As the battle waned Erik walked to the body of the reaper and looked at the item that fell... Magni and Modi came over quickly too... they smelled something VERY familiar.

"NO..." erik whispered as he grasped the peice of torn cloth. "No no no no no..." the bears sniffed and then sat whimpering.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Erik roared and then fell to his knees grasping his head with his hands.

"Oh God Enid..."

Erik held a peice of Enid's coat in his hands... and it was soaked with blood. He could tell by the reactions of Magni and Modi, who's blood it was...

Suddenly... the levels of radiation spiked in the tunnel as Erik began radiating green fire.

"If... If they hurt her..." he whispered... It was all he could do not to let his anger consume him.

"We... we need to move faster."

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Master Wonderful stepped into the middle of the fray. "WATCH IT! I'm clearing the... ROAD!" His last word was imphasised by the combined force of the shock waves from a mighty clap of his hands and a powerful stomp of his foot. The force sent Vahzilok's minions flying in all directions. "GO NOW!" the hero shouted. "I'll take care of these clowns and catch up with you! Time isn't on our side at this point, so don't even try arguing with me!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal knew she couldn't go - something was happening with Paul, though she didn't know what, and was too thickly involved with the battle to be able to turn her full attention to it. Instead she raised her arms, further scattering the Vahzilok, leaving the way clear. "Doc!" She called to Erik. "Go! Take Magni and go! We'll catch up to you later with Modi! Go!"

Then she turned her mind towards Paul... or at least, part of it, searching him, seeking. Trying to find out what was wrong.

(OOC will PM you about my response in a bit ))

[ QUOTE ]
It was then that he saw a reaper moving towards one of the fallen zombie with a syringe. It looked like he was planning to inject the non moving corpse with it. Jack went after him. He didn't think it was a good idea to let the reaper do what ever it was planning to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

He was too far away though, and the reaper arrived before he did, injecting the contents of the vial - two vials, actually, rigged to inject together: one of a bluish substance which Jack recognized as certainly some sort of drug, and the other a greenish, glowing muck.

In a moment, the body stirred, got up - and went after him.

[ QUOTE ]
Harris suddenly realized he had no real way to attack the Vahz or defend himself. In a panic he started shouting, "What do I do? What do I do?"

[/ QUOTE ]

It was Emily that answered this, through the greenish dragonfly buzzing around the battle. "Harris, the armor you are wearing has weaponry - use it!"

[ QUOTE ]
When Crystal had asked him what had happened he was too pissed off to make up an excuse and simply told her he "could not recall". Now she was talking like she might know what had happened. Had she been there? He could just about remember driving like crazy while "The Sex Pistols" bleared out of his speakers. However after that everything was a blank. What had happened?

In his anger he kicked a near by rock which landed in the water next to the others with a loud splash.

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal was feeling very bad. She felt rather sick, which, she thought, must be the afteraffects of the drug. She had never been hung over, but presumed that she was now. She also presumed that, like most hangovers, it would go away in time. The idea that she was going into withdrawal had never crossed her mind.

Paul had not come with her, and in fact was moping at the back of the group. Jack was furious, kicking rocks around, and neither one of them came near her.

She felt far more stressed by the emotional reverberations than by their current circumstances. The stress made her feel like throwing up. She wished it was all better again somehow, then realized that it might not ever be better. This might be the end: Paul and Jack might go their own seperate ways and live their own seperate lives, and leave her. And what would she do then?

They passed the wreckage of the old Black Line car, now almost completely buried in rubble. Crystal couldn't believe, looking at its ruin, that anyone had ever come out of it alive. They clambered through gigantic holes in the walls, mostly in silence, everyone in the group deep in their own thoughts.

Then Magni and Modi suddenly took off down the tunnels. Caught off-guard, Crystal scrambled to keep up with them.

She didn't see the first Vahzilok until Magni threw the remains past her shoulder. There was a group of Vahz up the tunnel, and the bears were tearing right in.

Instinctively, Crystal found that she knew what to do.

She reached out with her mind and screamed, and several of the vahz minions staggered around, clutching their heads, out of the fight. Another one ran at her, but she flung her hand at him and he rose unexpectedly into the air, where Modi smacked him.

It was hard to see past the bears in the tunnel - but there were a lot of the Vahzilok. Crystal could tell this much. "This way!" She called back, just in case, somehow, someone had managed to miss the ferocious battle. "Over here! Vahzilok!"

Without looking back, she waded into the thick of battle.

[ QUOTE ]
Penny nodded, then turned back to the group of the huddling humans. "OK," she whispered, "here is the plan..."

[/ QUOTE ]

+++

The mortificator looked up when he heard the loud crash - there was a hero in the sewers! They had not been watching where they were going, and run into a barrel.

All of the abominations came forwards, as well as the mortificator and reaper themselves, prompting a loud curse from the hero - but apparantly they intended to stand tall.

Girl Genius, hovering above the muck, swept the air with her hand, as if backhanding something nearby.

Offensive illusionary capabilities: activated. Target: reaper.

At once the reaper was immersed in bluish smoke; it seemed to be made of distorted faces, chomping and biting at his flesh. He howled, turning around in circles, trying to get them off. Penny, who knew perfectly well it was an illusion, had trouble believing she had not thrown something - it looked so real!

The mortificator fired his crossbow and she whirled: a moment later he screamed and clutched his eyes, blinded. She took some height as the abominations charged.

Far above her, the humans hurried along the catwalk. The group below, totally distracted, did not notice them.

They could hear the sounds of the fight as they made it to the small room where the suits were hung. Enid and Sarah worked to get Amy into a suit, before suiting themselves. The suits were too large for them, clearly meant for bigger occupants, but better too big than too small...

+

The last abomination fell. Penny turned to go... and a rope of curling blackness shot over her shoulder.

She whirled.

Down the tunnel was coming... an army. Or at least that was what it looked like: she could spot four murk Eiledons in the mass, the heads of Mortificators and Reapers and other Eiledons, Abominations towering over all...

She unleashed a flash attack in the general direction of the undead, and ran for it.

"Time to go, you guys ready?"

The darkness missed her ear by inches, shattering the corner of the room with the suits. All the humans jumped. "Get to the chamber, go go go go go go!"

Penny swooped Amy up in her arms as the others, made clumsy by the heavy suits, ran for it. Enid got in the radiation lock first, followed closely by Sarah and then Adam.

Girl Genius threw herself in, dropped Amy unceremoniously on her rear, whirled to close the door - and a hand was there. The hand of an Eiledon, grinning at her. It was inside the door. Others were on its heels.

Penny couldn't quite recall what the Eiledons had done to her. The cellular repairs done by Omega Unit had helped to "blur" those memories, removing their trauma. But a thrill of fear still went through her. She reached behind the Eiledon, grabbing the door, slamming it shut, and spinning the wheel. "Someone punch the control! Punch it!"

Then she had no more time to think. The dark blast caught her in the back, making her gasp for breath. She could not fail now, not with four lives riding on it. She threw the illusion and then the flash - and it missed. His return blast threw her through the air and into the wall with a WHOOF.

Rather suddenly the Eiledon let out a howl. The room turned green. An alarm went off - the presence of hard radiation. Remembering what else Omega Unit had said, she tried to activate her own radiation fields - and they worked, much to her surprise.

It took time. It took power - so much power that Omega Unit was almost drained by the end. But eventually - finally - the Eiledon dropped.

Panting, Girl Genius turned to the window. Outside were faces pressed in at her, very angry looking faces - but faces that knew what the alarm meant, as well as the green glow in the room.

Enid Sanstad had punched the controls, flooding the room with radiation. Now none of those outside dared to cross the threshold.

Panting hard, Girl Genius turned to the others. "You guys... OK?"

"Yes... you?"

"I'm fine," she panted. "Now, before they figure out a way in here... lets find our way to the reactor core. It's got to be close."

"What will we do then?" Someone asked.

"I imagine," Enid grinned, "That we will be giving Dr. Vahzilok an enormous surprise...."

[ QUOTE ]
"Yes, I think I'm alright, except for this nasty headache. I'm, uh, Adam, Adam Sullivan. Any idea where we are? It smells like a sewer down here."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Offhand, I would say that is a remarkably astute analysis," something about Adam Sullivan bothered Penny, but there was no time to worry about it now. She gestured at their surroundings.

Their little band looked rather bedraggled. Sarah and Enid, looking rather worse for wear, had each slung one of Amy's arms over their shoulders. Amy shook her head. "I will only slow you down," she said, "You should leave me behind."

"No one gets left behind," said Penny and Enid simultaneously. "What worries me is that I don't think we have much time before reinforcements arrive. " She looked torn - on the one hand, they needed to get Amy, Sarah, Enid, and Adam out of here... and on the other, that would mean leaving Vahzilok with nuclear material, a bad situation.

"So we go on the offensive," Enid said immediately. Penny looked at her in surprise. "We don't leave Vahzilok with nuclear material."

Girl Genius looked over her shoulder. "I would agree with that."

"My husband could dismantle that reactor in his sleep," she pursed her lips. "Unfortunately, I don't yet have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics."

"I could take it apart," Penny said, quite certainly. "I have been doing a lot of radiation study lately. But - I couldn't leave you - "

"We will come with you. We go together."

Penny shook her head. "It would mean going into irradiated chambers, I'm..." Her voice trailed away. She was shielded now but... how had it happened? And the others were not shielded.

Enid Sanstad shook her head. "There were protective suits, I saw them on my way in." She thinned her lips. "When Vahzilok took my jacket and some blood... I just wish I knew why." She was silent for a minute, then focused again. "There were lots of them - enough for a large group of people."

Penny looked around at the others. "Does anyone have any objections to trying to get the nuclear material away from the Vahz, instead of trying to find our way to the surface?"

"Let's do it," said Sarah.

"I'm ready."

Adam didn't voice any objections, so Penny nodded. "You remember where these suits were, Enid?"

"You bet - follow me."

+++

"Down there," Enid gingerly indicated over the railing. Girl Genius, invisible, took a look.

They could see the radiation chamber at the far end of the hallway, and in a nearby room hung dozens of protective suits.

"OK," Girl Genius said, "Here is the plan. It's lightly guarded right now, I count one mortificator, one reaper, four abominations, and two bombs."

"Can you take all of that?" Amy was looking alarmed.

Penny didn't reply immediately. She was looking at the data streams filtering across the faceplate of her helmet. Though the helmet still had its gigantic dent, and the radio was still out, everything else had been repaired.... and things seemed to have been added.

On a hunch, she brought up her virtual keyboard and typed, Can I take all of that?

Omega Unit online, came the response, not as sound in her ears, but as text across the faceplate, in its own window. Objective: defeat all enemies, retrieve protective gear, enter radiation chambers. Probability of success: 95%.

Who is this?

I am Omega Unit. I was given to Authorized User: Girl Genius by Omega Prime.

Did you fix my armor?

Affirmative. External systems repairs: 95%.

What else did you do? I didn't have these readouts before.

Added: Offensive illusionary capability utilizing extant flash and invisibility based technologies as a base. Added: medium-range controlled radiation cellular repair capabilities. Added: medium-range radiation contamination capabilities. Radiation contamination subgroup one: radiation infection. Radiation contamination subgroup two: ennervating field. Upgraded: external jet packs. Upgraded: external shielding capabilities.

Communications capabilities? Penny typed hopefully.

Negative. All communications capabilities damaged beyond repair. All irrepairable systems dismantled for nanite matter conversion.

Could it be fixed later?

Affirmative. A list of required tools followed this statement. None of them were likely to be located in the sewers.



Mmm. Nice. Remember to thank Omega Prime for me.

Negative. Nanite reconfiguration required permanent mounting of Omega Unit.

Penny was surprised. So... so this is permanent? All these upgrades... and you?

Affirmative.

Penny nodded, then turned back to the group of the huddling humans. "OK," she whispered, "here is the plan..."

(((Post 1 of about 3 linked ones, will post more in a bit!))

[ QUOTE ]
A dull groan could be heard from a near by cell. "Ow, my head. Where am I? Hello? I any one there?"

[/ QUOTE ]

Penny looked back out the door - the cell was across the tunnel. She went to the door and put her hand on the knob: it was locked. Her hand dropped to hover over the lock momentarily, and though it was impossible to see what she did, a moment later there was a merry CLICK and when she tried the handle again, the door swung open. She peered into the darkness. "Hello? Are you all right?"

+++
In the Vahzilok laboratory
+++

"How many?" said Enid.

The door was open a crack, and Sarah was peering through it. "I count... four." She closed the door again.

"Any mortificators or reapers?"

"Nope, just abominations. What do we have to tackle them?"

"Hmm... a chair and a piece of rope."

"Mmmmmm. How do you take out four abominations with a piece of rope?"

It was Enid that voiced the idea. "Tie loops in it. Put the loops around the neck of two abominations. Let them kill themselves, then rinse and repeat."

Sarah winced. "Boy, that sounds almost suicidal." She picked up the rope. "Enid, you any good at knots? I will take the first turn on the chair if you want."

"Deal, here... tie it like this.... my main concern is, can we throw it?"

"I can throw it," grinned Sarah. "A while back, I did a piece on this hero who used to be a ranch hand... he taught me how to handle a rope..." she smirked. "Man, I hated to break up with him, he was a cutie..."

+++

The four abominations were standing stupidly outside the door, staring at nothing in particular. They did, technically, have orders: they were to guard the door. However, they were far too dimwitted to remember something that complicated, and now were standing there stupidly.

So they were completely surprised when the door was suddenly yanked open. Sarah was there, standing on the chair. "Yee-ha!"

The rope was thinner than it had been, having been carefully split in two pieces, but the hangman's nooses at either end had been beautifully made. Sarah threw one end of the noose around the head of one abomination before he had even started to move. The other landed around the head of the other just as they turned to attack. Then Enid yanked back the chair, and Amy slammed the door shut.

The women all ran to the other side of the room, near the window, in which neither the Eiledon nor the hero was visible. The door gave a single enormous THUMP, and then was knocked off its hinges as the Abominations came charging in.

Enid was standing in front, and put her hands in front of Sarah and Amy, silently warning them not to move, to freeze.

About halfway across the room, the first abomination slowed to a stop. It was not currently taking damage, and it had forgotten what it was doing. It stood their stupidly, the noose around his neck. The two had moved at the same time, and stood next to each other, the rope draped between them.

"Come on," whispered Enid. "Come onnnnn....."

The two abominations seemed to reach a decision at the same time, and shuffled stupidly back towards the door. However, their paths were not parallel.

They were outside the door when they noticed the tugging of the rope. Their rotten brains were completely confused by this. Their was instant pandemonium and random running around.

"Think that rope will hold?"

"It had better..."

It did. The end of the abominations was rather grotesque. Enid closed her eyes. "Ew," Sarah scrunched up her face. "I wish we had that door back now - "

"Bite your tongue!" There were still two abominations to go.

"Think you can rope them without the chair?"

Sarah squinted. "Yes, I think so... door's kind of in the way but I think that would be all right.... you guys ready? We'll have to move fast this time..."

"We're ready, go."

When they were close enough, Enid threw the chair through the doorway and into the tunnel beyond. This confused the abominations long enough for Sarah to slip the rope around their heads.

As before, all the women backed off to the other end of the room. The abominations ran into the room, kicking the door again, but by the time they were halfway in, they had forgotten what they were doing.

"Oh no," whispered Enid. "No no no no no..."

"What?" Whispered Amy - and then she saw it.

The door was laying at an angle against the wall. One of the abominations had come too close to it, and now the rope was under the doorknob.

"If that hangs up -" Enid sounded scared.

It did. When the abominations shuffled back out of the room, the door came with them, dragging along behind, its handle hopelessly entangled. The abominations went through the doorframe, out into the tunnel.

The door did not. It hit the frame with a CLANG and got hung up there at an angle. "No no no-" Said Enid, "The tension is not even, we have got to get the rope loose..."

But it was too late. One of the abominations gave such an enormous pull that its head popped clean off with a horrible squelching noise. The other one roared, turned, and charged into the room.

"Grab Amy!" Shouted Enid, and went to deal with it. Sarah ran to Amy, who was looking shaky, and scooped her up.

Enid made it to the door just after the abomination had run over it. It paused, confused by her dash, then turned towards her. By that time she had it in her hands, and though it spat vomit at her, she had the door in place and it splashed harmlessly off.

Then the door was yanked out of her hands. The abomination roared. She scrambled for cover.

There was a blinding flash. The abomination screamed, clutching at its head... and fell over.

There in the doorway was the hero they had seen in the other room earlier. "I don't see any more of them... are you guys OK?"

[ QUOTE ]
Everything was going to change... in a very HARD way. there was no going back. If thet made it out of the sewers alive... EVERYTHING he knew would be gone.

How does one face the abyss knowing this?

[/ QUOTE ]

Crystal was the only person who was unaware that both Jack and Paul had taken her speech as a profession of love: she was under the impression that she had made herself quite clear - Jack was her brother, and Paul was the man she loved.

Now, as the bears headed down the tunnel, she paused briefly, looking back. "Paul?" She had already missed him - she had expected him to be right there by her side.

+++
In the Vahzilok lab
+++

The Eiledon returned to the hero to find her unconscious. While not unexpected, it was an annoyance, as he would have to wake her before he could continue. He shut down the radiation source and jammed the cattle prod into her side to wake her.

By this time, however, Unit had completed its scans of the area.

The human, codename Girl Genius, had been granted clearance appropriate to her security level by Omega Prime, and was listed in Unit's personnel files as an authorized user. She was, therefore, an individual deserving of protection.

The Eiledon, on the other hand, was listed in Unit's database as a Confirmed Hostile, particularly after it utilized the cattle prod. Unit could read extensive damage in Authorized User: Girl Genius, and the source of the damage was obvious.

Unit needed power to complete repairs. It had been utilizing the power released from the radioactive vent nearby, but now the Eiledon had shut it off.

Wakey-wakey, said the Eiledon. Its hands glowed green as it put them on Penny's arms, something that had caused her excruciating pain earlier. Time to continue our chat, it almost purred.

Penny was not conscious to hear the mechanical voice in her ear. Threat detected, droned Unit. Nanite defensive systems activated.

The Eiledon was quite surprised when its arms suddenly stuck to Penny's armor. It was even more surprised when the glowing green power running through its hands was suddenly pulled from it.

Commencing radiation energy transfer. Reserves 10%.

The Eiledon tried to pull away, found itself unable, and howled.

Reserves 30%.

The Eiledon channeled an enormous amount of energy at the limp form of the hero, trying to blast his way free.

Power spike detected. Transfer rate adjusted. Power reserves 65%.

The Eiledon gave a terrible howl and glowed green in panicked fury -

Power reserves 95%.

- as it dissolved into nothing, howling and shrieking in its own ears, sliding into dissolution, dissappearing like a bad dream, its very essence absorbed.

Threat eliminated, droned Unit emotionlessly. External system status seven percent. Authorized User: Girl Genius status, pre-terminal.

Unit had committed its surroundings to memory and did not need to scan to calculate the necessary conversion rates. Commence: nanite organic cellular repair. Commence: nanite external system conversion and repair. Power reserves: 95%. Matter reserves: 35%. Commence: matter-to-nanite conversion.

The only matter touching the armor at that moment were the enormous bonds that were enclosing the hands and feet of Girl Genius. They turned a steely-gray color as they were suddenly swarmed with nanites.

Matter reserves: 50%. Matter-to-Nanite conversion: 5% complete. Organic cellular repair: 5% complete. External system conversion and repair: 2% complete.

From the outside, it didn't look as if anything was happening: at least, not without looking through a microscope. But as the grayish-blue color washed slowly over Girl Genius's armor, it magically repaired itself: the small rips and tears mended, and the dents and dings smoothed themselves out.

More drastic changes occured more slowly. The bulky armor began losing its bulk, refitting itself, becoming formfitting and sleek. The massively oversized boots and gloves, though still oversized, became smaller. The outer layers of the armor quietly dissolved, and the inner layers showed themselves as a material so smooth and seamless it looked almost like fabric, though marked with the lines of circuitry, as well as a crisscrossing mesh of other lines.

Inside the suit, other wonders were occuring. Burnt and blistered flesh began losing its angry red-and-white appearance. Bruises disappeared. Cuts mended.

Unit kept track of all of this with occasional updates.

Matter reserves: 40%. Matter-to-Nanite conversion: 45% complete. Organic cellular repair: 30% complete. External system conversion and repair: 22% complete.

As the conversion progressed, the housings that had enclosed the arms and legs of Girl Genius slowly crumbled, their basic structure converted into nanites. She slid to the floor and lay there, unconscious.

But in her sleeping ears was a voice:

Matter reserves: 0%. Matter-to-Nanite conversion: 100% complete. Organic cellular repair: 100% complete. External system conversion and repair: 100% complete. External system power reserves: 95%. Organic system power reserves: 95%. Estimated time remaining to consciousness, 5.04 minutes.